220 Transactions. 



person who died a natural death was sometimes eaten, if he was 

 not a near relative. 



When a loved relative, as a favourite child, dies it is a com- 

 mon thing for the child's property, clothing, playthings, &c, 

 to be destroyed or given away. In the case of Marewa, cited 

 above, this was done so completely that no article of hers re- 

 mained, whereupon her grandfather applied to the master of 

 the Native school that she attended for the child's slate, that 

 her people might have something of hers to greet over and re- 

 member her by. 



On the death of a chief of importance, one possessed of much 

 mana (influence, prestige, &c), social, intellectual, and spiritual — 

 a person who would, of course, be highly tapu — a peculiar rite 

 was performed in many cases by the eldest son of the deceased, 

 in order that he might acquire the powers of his father. A part 

 of this ceremony consisted in the son biting the ear, or big toe, 

 of the corpse. 



When Mahia, of Tuhoe, was slain by Te Whakatohea at Te 

 Pa-puni those lands were made tapu, on account of a chief's 

 blood having been shed thereon. This of course meant that 

 no one might utilise the food-products of such lands. Some of 

 the people living there did, however, eat of such foods. This 

 being a serious violation of tapu, a party of Tuhoe marched on 

 the Pa-puni and slew many of those erring ones. 



When Ngati-Awa defeated Tuhoe at O-tu-kai-marama, near 

 Te Teko, they captured alive both Wahawaha and Tipoka of 

 the latter tribe. Before being slain the captives sang together 

 a song of greeting, affection, and farewell to their tribe and 

 lands. They were then slain by the widows of those of Ngati- 

 Awa who had been slain by Tuhoe. 



The Ngai-Tama clan of Te Whakatohea Tribe assisted in 

 defeating Ngapuhi at Motiti Isle. They were under the chief 

 Titoko, who brought to Opotiki a cannon which had been cap- 

 tured from Ngapuhi. This cannon was fired off whenever a 

 chief died, for the Maori delights in making a noise at such times. 

 A Native who had his horse drowned while crossing the creek 

 near my camp at Eua-tahuna returned with his gun and fired 

 several shots over the place where the animal perished. 



Plumes of the huia and hotuku birds w T ere used to decorate 

 the heads of deceased chiefs as they lay upon the atamira. The 

 Ngati-Awa people say that fine plumes of the moa were formerly 

 used for this purpose. They were termed the " rau-o-piopio?' 

 and grew under the " armpits " of the moa. 



When in former times a mail was lost and thought to be 

 dead, the priest would perform a certain rite and repeat a charm 

 to cause the bones of the dead to " resound," so as to make 



